Page 39 of Born in Ruin

“Don’t bother,” he said shortly. “You guys discuss what you need to with Mayukhi. I need some space.”

He stormed off to a room at the end of the large hall and slammed the door behind him.

“I’ll go,” Amay said, putting his plate down. “Let me see what’s actually going on with him.”

Mayukhi grabbed his hand as he walked past her. “Do you mind if I go?” She had no idea what had made her volunteer but for some reason, she couldn’t stand the idea of anyone else going up to Ishaan right now. She’d seen something in his face that sherecognised. She knew what it felt like to stand on the precipice of something and have all control unravel from your hands.

Amay looked like he wanted to argue but Virat said, “Let her. You’re probably the last person he wants to see right now.”

Mayukhi didn’t wait for more than that. She made her way to the room she’d seen Ishaan disappear into and knocked.

“Fuck off!” The snarled insult only made her smile. This Ishaan she could handle. The thoughtful man who’d brought her drunk self home, safe, and tucked her into bed, not so much.

She opened the door and stepped in, shutting it behind her. The room was in darkness with the air conditioner going full blast. She took a second to allow her eyes to adjust to the dark. Ishaan was sprawled face down on the large king size bed that dominated the room.

“Fuck off Ams. I’m not in the mood for this.”

There it was again in his voice. Defeat. She was surprised to realise she didn’t like hearing it.

“Define this,” she said, approaching the bed. She saw his entire body still at the sound of her voice but he didn’t turn her way.

“Not now, Kraken,” he said, his voice a deep, delicious rumble that seemed to trickle through her veins.

Mayukhi sat down on the bed, next to him, cross legged, careful to not let any part of her touch any part of him.

“It sounds like a prank,” she said, resting her back against the headboard.

“I know it’s a prank.”

She almost expected him to start growling at her at any moment.

“Then why are you acting like a toddler in the middle of a full blown meltdown?”

Again, tact had never been her strength. But somehow it seemed to be the right thing to say to Ishaan.

“You know I beat Dhrithi by half a mark to win that trophy?” Ishaan finally turned to look at her, propping his head up with one hand. “But she thinks I cheated.”

Mayukhi arched an eyebrow. “Did you?”

He grinned, a brilliant, wicked grin that she felt right to the tips of her toes. Mayukhi curled her fingers into the bedsheet to keep from reaching for him.

“Does it matter? I won, didn’t I? I don’t like losing.”

“Is that what this is about? Them winning?”

Ishaan shrugged, flopping on to his back and staring at the ceiling. “All I had back then was my brains. It was all that stood between me and complete failure. It was my thing, my only thing. That trophy? It’s all I had to show for that time in my life.”

A strange emotion unfurled inside her. It took her a moment to realise it was tenderness towards this six foot plus pain in her arse.

“Well,” she said, quietly. “I guess we’re just going to have to steal it back then.”

Ishaan turned his head on his pillow to look at her, a gentle amusement lightening the shadows on his face. “We?”

“Who do you think would win a prank war between us? Two shit stirrers like us or those two angels?” She jerked her thumb towards the shut bedroom door.

Ishaan laughed, the sound a bright burst of joy dispelling the darkness of the mood she’d walked into. And suddenly, she couldn’t stop herself from wanting more…wanting him. Mayukhi’s pulse hammered as she looked down at Ishaan, his face half-lit by the dim glow filtering through the curtains.

His chest rose and fell in uneven breaths, his eyes dark, searching, looking for something she didn’t know she had to give. Something inside her tightened at the sight—this man, with his ironclad shields around his emotions, baring his deepest insecurities to her. The air between them was thick, charged with everything they hadn’t said.

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